YouTube TV Vs. Fubo TV – 8 Things You Need to Know

Now that the cord-cutter revolution is in full swing, TV fans have more choices than ever before. But with so many internet TV services on the market, it’s a good idea to do some research first before you commit.

If you’re stuck between YouTube TV vs. fuboTV and don’t know which internet TV service to try, keep reading to find out 8 things you should know before you make a buying decision.

Overview

For $35, a base subscription to YouTube TV gives you access to around 60 channels, but YouTube TV plans to increase its subscription fee to $40 this March.

Best features

YouTube TV shines when it comes to local TV coverage. If you can get YouTube TV in your area, you’ll probably be able to get your local NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox stations. YouTube TV’s outstanding local TV coverage is especially beneficial if you don’t normally use a TV tuner to grab local broadcasts.

In addition, YouTube TV has generous recording features. Many internet TV services cap the amount of content you can record, but YouTube TV does not. Whatever you record on YouTube TV gets deleted automatically after nine months.

Downsides

If you’re a fan of Amazon, you may want to go with a different internet TV service. YouTube TV is owned by Google, and Google is not getting along very well with Amazon these days. As a result, YouTube TV may never make it to Amazon’s popular Fire TV devices.

Another potential issue with YouTube TV is that it’s missing some key lifestyle channels. Food Network, HGTV, the Science Channel and Discovery are not on YouTube TV’s menu of channels.

Subscriber count

According to TechCrunch, YouTube TV only has around 300,000 subscribers. Local coverage is actually one reason for YouTube TV’s relatively low subscriber count. Waiting to secure deals with local TV broadcasters before it expanding into a region slowed YouTube TV’s rollout. Other internet TV services opt to go ahead and expand first and strike deals later.

fuboTV has a sports-heavy base plan called fubo Premier. fubo Premier costs $45 per month and has around 80 channels.

Best features

Though fuboTV has a wide selection of general entertainment channels, this internet TV service specializes in sports. If you like soccer, you’ll definitely want to give fuboTV a whirl because it has many soccer channels you won’t find anywhere else.

Like YouTube TV, fuboTV also has excellent recording features. You can keep your recordings for as long as you want– and you get up to 500 hours of recording time if you upgrade the DVR for $10 extra per month. Without the upgrade, you get 30 hours of recording time.

Downsides

fuboTV’s achilles heel is its lack of ESPN. So far, fuboTV has not been able to work out a deal to stream any of the ESPN channels. Without the most popular cable TV sports network, there’s a limit on fuboTV’s ability to reel in fans of mainstream American sports.

Another potential issue with fuboTV is that it’s lagging behind the competition when it comes to picture quality. Though fuboTV is meant to appeal to sports fans, all but two of its channels stream at only 30 frames per second. 30fps streams look choppy at times. 60fps streams are ideal for watching fast paced sports.

Subscriber count

fuboTV hasn’t released any official subscriber numbers in quite some time. However, fuboTV passed the 100,000 subscriber mark about a year ago.

Fact 1: YouTube TV Is Less Expensive (for Now)

Both internet TV services have recently raised their fees. Though YouTube TV and fuboTV are comparable when it comes to price, YouTube TV currently costs $10 less.

YouTube TV’s core subscription costs $35, but it will raise the fee to $40 in a few months. Only new customers will have to pay more, though.

Note: Some of the apps listed above won’t work with YouTube TV unless you subscribe to the appropriate channel package. If you don’t have the channel, you can’t unlock the app.

Fact 4: YouTube TV Has Better Features for Big Families

If you intend to share your account with your family, you may be disappointed by fuboTV’s default 2-device simultaneous stream limit. Only one other person can watch fuboTV while you’re using it unless you pay $6 extra to add a 3rd simultaneous stream.

YouTube TV lets you stream to up to three devices at once for no extra cost. You can also create up to six profiles on YouTube TV. Individual profiles allows YouTube TV to learn what you like to watch and serve up customized recommendations based on your viewing history.

As mentioned above, you can sidestep simultaneous stream restrictions by using TV Everywhere apps. For example, if two people in your house are already watching TV through the fuboTV app, you can still log into the Fox Sports Go app or the NBC Sports app with your fuboTV credentials. TVE works the same way with YouTube TV.

Fact 5: fuboTV Has a Stronger Selection of Apps

There’s a gaping hole in YouTube TV’s app catalog: Amazon. Every other internet TV service works with Amazon’s hugely popular Amazon Fire TV devices, but YouTube TV does not.

Because the feud between Amazon and Google shows no sign of ending anytime soon, you may want to get fuboTV instead of YouTube TV if you own an Amazon TV device.

Fact 6: fuboTV Has Better On-demand Content

YouTube TV tries to sell the fact that you get free access to YouTube Red with a subscription to YouTube TV. Currently, there are around 40 different YouTube Red movies and shows, and they’re all very, well… YouTube-y. Unless you follow YouTube’s most famous vloggers, you probably won’t spend much time watching YouTube Red content. There are thousands of other movies and shows you can buy on YouTube, but you have to pay extra to rent or buy them.

The fuboTV on-demand library is small, but it does have a small selection of movies and TV shows. Last time we reviewed fuboTV, we found a few hundred titles. Because YouTube’s movie rental prices are expensive, fuboTV’s on-demand library could be a deal breaker if you don’t have Netflix.

Fact 7: YouTube TV Has Better Looking Streams

fuboTV is lagging behind a bit when it comes to picture quality. Though all fuboTV channels seem to be “standard” HD (720p), few of them are “full” HD (1080p). Additionally, fuboTV currently only has two high frame rate 60fps channels. High frame rate streams are ideal for watching fast-paced sports.

YouTube TV, on the other hand, started rolling out 60fps channels early this month just in time for the Olympics.

A redditor recently scanned through all the YouTube TV channels and identified the following 60fps channels:

NBC Sports

CNBC

USA

Olympic Channel

CNN

CNN International

HLN

TNT

TBS

TCM

TruTV

Cartoon Network

Adult Swim

All SHOWTIME channels

Various FOX affiliates

Various NBC affiliates

Fact 8: Both Services Have 7-Day Free Trials

If you’re still not sure which is right for you, try them both out yourself and see what you think. Both internet TV services have 7-day free trials.

YouTube TV Vs. fuboTV: Which Is Better?

If you want to watch TV on your computer…

Though fuboTV also has good local TV coverage, YouTube TV has made more deals with the “big 4” American broadcasters than any other internet TV service.

Be sure to check fuboTV’s and YouTube TV’s channel finder tools to find out which broadcast networks you can get in your area before you sign up with either service.

If you have an Amazon Fire TV…

If you have an Amazon TV device and you’re stuck between YouTube TV and fuboTV, go with fuboTV. YouTube TV won’t release an Amazon app until the Google-Amazon war ends, and that probably won’t happen anytime soon.

If you don’t have Netflix…

fuboTV’s on-demand catalog is shrimpy compared to Netflix and Hulu, but at least it has a few hundred movies that you can watch for free. Unless you like YouTube Red Originals, you’ll have to pull out your credit card every time you feel like streaming an on-demand movie if you get YouTube TV.

If you have a big family…

Both YouTube TV and fuboTV are stingy when it comes to simultaneous streaming, but YouTube TV offers more family-friendly flexibility. fuboTV only lets you watch two streams at once. YouTube TV lets you watch three streams at the same time, plus you can set up separate profiles for six different people on one account.

If you like soccer…

fuboTV specializes in soccer and other sports that are more popular outside the US. In addition to soccer, fuboTV also offers coverage of fencing, rugby, cricket, water polo and more.

If ESPN is a must…

ESPN availability could be a deal breaker if you depend on ESPN for sports. YouTube TV has ESPN. fuboTV does not.

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